"Shadow39" wrote in message
...
Army Master Sgt. Christopher Sprowson's deployment to Iraq in 2005 was
complicated not by routine orders passed down in a war zone, but by the
contents of a startling letter the state of Kansas sent to his wife.

The document from the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation
Services ordered Sprowson to pay child support for a boy, born to his
first wife a decade earlier, that genetic testing had already proven was
fathered by someone else. The career soldier, based at Fort Riley, had
divorced his first wife soon after the child was born. The boy is now 13.

Karey Sprowson sits with sons Jordan, 10, left, and Joshua, 4, right, and
daughter Jadeyn, 14 months, in their Wakefield home. She and her husband,
deployed Army Master Sgt. Christopher Sprowson, are battling to have a son
he didn't father in a prior marriage declared not his. A court sees
otherwise and ordered child support. A DNA bill before the Legislature
could clarify the matter.

Sprowson's current spouse, Karey Sprowson, contacted an SRS attorney for
an explanation of the letter and to share the DNA evidence.

It made no difference.

"Under Kansas law," she said, "since he and the mother were married at the
birth, he is the presumed father."

Karey Sprowson, who lives in Wakefield north of the sprawling military
base, said it was time to inject common sense into the state's paternity
statutes.

Today, she will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of
a bill that would allow a man presumed to be the father of a child to
request a genetic test. Results of that analysis, according to the
proposed new law, would be used by the court when assigning paternity.
Provisions of the bill would apply to children younger than 18 years of
age as of July 1.

Sen. Jim Barnett, R-Emporia, said he sponsored the legislation to inject
"fairness" into a process that was damaging to the Sprowson family. He was
contacted by Karey Sprowson because much of the legal wrangling in the
case has transpired in Emporia.

Barnett said the Lyon County District Court's $325 monthly child support
judgment against Christopher Sprowson was detrimental to the welfare of
the couple's three children, who range in age from 10 years to 14 months.

"His real children have become victims of the courts," Barnett said.

Sen. Tim Owens, an Overland Park Republican and chairman of the judiciary
committee, said the judicial branch was guided by statutes designed to
prevent parental figures from avoiding responsibility for their children.

The proposed legislation could have a big impact on the handling of other
paternity cases, he said.

Karey Sprowson, who is in charge of the family's paternity case while her
husband serves a third tour in Iraq, said the legal drama had drained the
couple's savings account. The family's 2008 income tax refund will be
seized, she said.

The irony, Karey Sprowson said, was the boy's birth mother didn't want her
ex-husband held liable.

"She went to court with us and told the SRS attorney that she didn't want
child support from him and the he is not the child's father," Karey
Sprowson said.

She said the boy has no relationship with Christopher Sprowson.

"While they are looking at the best interests of one child," she said,
"they're not considering the best interests of all children. They're
taking away from my children."

http://cjonline.com/stories/012109/sta_379727641.shtml

Well it was refreshing to hear that bio-mom stepped up to the plate and
helped in their attempt to set the record straight. But the more pressing
issue here is to present the state of Kansas with something called the
Service-members Civil Relief Act of 2003 (aka - SCRA). Some of the best
things about this can be found at 50 U.S.C. Title II Sec. 521 - Protection
of servicemembers against default judgements; Sec. 522 - Stay of proceedings
when servicemember has notice; Sec. 524 - Stay or vacation of execution of
judgements, attachments, and garnishments

The Act can be found here.. http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/military/scratext.htm